SOMEONE MAKE THIS INTO A MOVIE -
THE TEMPORAL VOID BY PETER F. HAMILTON

Isn’t
it time someone made a movie out of one of British science fiction author
Peter F. Hamilton’s books? Or perhaps a TV series, considering what
doorstop novels they all are . . .

Each time we here at the Sci-Fi Movie Page hear about the entertainment
industry sinking millions of dollars into some bland literary property (a
movie based on Terry Brook’s Sword of
Shannara!) or a milked-to-death franchise (StarGate Universe!)
we just shake our heads. And we wonder why no-one has yet made a movie, or
better still, a television mini-series out of one of Peter F. Hamilton’s
epic space opera books.

Peter F. who? Just Britain’s biggest-selling science fiction author: with
the publication of his tenth novel in 2004 he had sold over two million
copies worldwide. Hamilton made a splash in 1996 with the publication of
The Reality Dysfunction. Clocking in at a whopping 1 120 pages it
was just the first part of a trilogy consisting similar doorstoppers of a
novel called The Night’s Dawn Trilogy. (Initially the first book in
the trilogy was published in two separate volumes because it was so
thick!)

But The Night’s Dawn was a big (and we mean BIG) epic space opera,
a real page-turner about a distant future in which humankind is spread
across the galaxy and in which for some reason the dead have come back to
possess the living. Of course fighting the dead presents a problem because
sooner or later we all die, so what’s the point then?

Night’s Dawn was followed by some more hefty space operas in the
Iain M. Banks vein (except – dare we say it? – Hamilton is actually
better, especially when it comes to some of Banks’ latest efforts).
Hamilton’s latest book is The Temporal Void, book two of a trilogy
named the Void trilogy. (The first book in the series was The
Dreaming Void, published in 2007.)

"Is Hamilton better than Iain M. Banks? We certainly think so . .
."

The Void trilogy is in itself a loose sequel of sorts to the
so-called Commonwealth Saga which (surprisingly) consists only of two
novels, namely Pandora’s Chain and Judas Unchained. The
Temporal Void is once again set in the far distant future of 3580 AD.
Humanity has spread across over a thousand star systems and a powerful
navy protects it from hostile species. Humanity has even overcome death.

But at the centre of the galaxy is the so-called Void, a strange
artificial universe created by aliens billions of years ago, shrouded by
an event horizon more deadly than any natural black hole. In order to
function, the Void is however gradually consuming the mass of the galaxy
and no-one can seem to stop it . . .

If you are a newbie, then don’t be intimidated by the sheer size of any of
the novels in question and kick off with The Reality Dysfunction
series of books. You won’t regret it: it’s an epic adventure with
literally a cast of hundreds, and perfect undemanding holiday reading. If
you have been following Hamilton’s books, then how does Temporal Void
weigh up? It definitely won’t disappoint Hamilton fans that have been
following his literary output for a while now. It may be slow to get
started, but if you stick it out the book becomes the compulsive
page-turner readers have come to expect from Hamilton.

Interestingly enough, the backbone of the novel is the interspersed dream
sequences involving the youth Edeard who lives in a city inside the Void.
It may be straight fantasy, but Hamilton illustrates how easily he has
mastered this genre too. Does that mean that Hamilton will turn to Fantasy
after completing the Void series? Let’s hope not. Science fiction
needs a talented, populist writer like Hamilton. And besides, we like him
just where he is, churning out thick space operas we lug along on holidays
. . .